Central package-wrapping station



w. R. MABEE 7 CENTRAL PACKAGE WRAPPING STATEN Oct. 4-, 41927, I 1,644,342

Fiied April 27, 126 s'sheets-sheet l V ATTORN EYS Oct. 4, 1927. 1,6 3 2 W. R. MABEE GENTRAL PACKAGE WRAPPING STATION I Filed April 2'7, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYfi I Oct. 4, 1927. 1,644,342. 0

W. R. MABEE CENTRAL PACKAGE WRAPPING STATION Filed April 27. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 i INVENTO Y 34/ I I BY Z k/ ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 4, 1927.

WILmAn n. Mannie; ourrEWAnKj ivnvv annsnyf t QEN'TBAL PACKAGE-WRAP N AT N? a a mafired April 27,1926, Serial no. 104526; 1

This invention relates in general to a com bination and arrangement .of a plurality of conveyors to facili-tate the handling of articles or packages whereby a large number of packages from different sources may be r and partially in side elevation, taken on the Wrapped or otherwise attended to at one place by a number of operators. Th mvention isparticularly directed toward providin g a central station at which all articles from various counters in a department store may be Wrapped, labelled and sorted for def livery to the customers. 7 y

Oneob'iect of the invention is to provide a central station of the character described including a novel and improved combination and arrangement of a conveyor to receive all articles from various sources or counters arranged in vconvenient relation to a wrapping table about Whichmay be posiy handled are brought by means of a suitable conveyor mechanism such asca belt Bpass ing over a roller 0 inounte'din a suitable anie D. "The turntabl-eQAL-isdisposed in v tioned a number of package Wrapping clerks so that the articlesto bewrapped successively move past the Wrapping clerks and can be removed from the conveyor Whenever any clerk is ready to Wrap an article, the

station also including a centrally disposed opening or space tClWlllCll all Wrapped packages may beconveniently directed by all of the Wrapping operators, and a conveyor conveniently arranged with respect to said opening or space whereby the Wrapped packages may, be automatically conveyed to a desired destination for nstance the loading platform or arouting counter.

Another object is to provide a central station of this character'which shall occupy a minimum'amountof space and accommodate Va maxinuun number of operators so that the I Wrapping or other handling of the articles ing for articles to be Wrapped is eliminated.

or packages is greatly facilitated and loss of time incident to Wrapping operators Wait Further objects are to provide apparatus of the character described which is simple in construction and Whichcan be economically installed; to provide acentral package handling station which can be adapted to manydiiferent locations with a minimum I of modifications or chan es in construction,

and to obtainother results and advantages .as may be brought out by the followi d scription. r H

' Referring tothe accompanying drawings,

inwvli'ich corresponding andlike parts are designatedthroug'hout the several v ews by the same reference characters,

stance the turntable isfsh'oyv ir a's' driven by i a .co-az'z i'alvert cal shaft 4 journa -led lf ig;ure is atop plan view of apparatus euroodymg the inven-tlon Figure 2 15 a transverse vert-ical sectional vieyv, talren on theiline' 22 of Figure 1 Figure 3isza"v1evv partially ins-section line 8 3fof Figure 1; .higure l is a toppl-an View of .the'wvrap ping ancllabelling table;

the invention illustratedbyiFiguresjl to lof the drawings, the reference' character designates a rotatable lStlucture or" turntable to which articles to he wrappedfor otherwise;

'su stantiallyco-axial relation above awrapping stable E Which is; in"turn'surrounded by rapping operators'or 'c lerks plat form F-{jflhe Wrapping "table has'a central opening surrounded by an annular table or counter H, the opening G serving to accommodate operators such i as "labelling clerkspand access t o-the spacei provided by the open ng being possible th rough a radial passagevvay I'Which opens through the side Eveyor mechanism which may be in the fo'rn'i of the Wrapping. table disch'arge co'nr of a. belt K passing over a-frol-ler lii'is "arfrangedbeneath thew-rapping table name platform EB With-oneendiadjacentthe.opening' Gr so that packages or; articles be "deposited upon, said conveyor"mechanism K I from the central table'l-I. t The turntablegli has a co-axialr conical pyramidal or otherwise outwardly" inclined" portion ly at" the lower edge ofwhich is provided an; annular shelf-like flange '2; and H tliecoi veyor mechanism 13 preferably has a discharge chute '3 arranged above the .turn- 7 table for directing thearticles or packages I j upon the inclined portion" l of the" turntable, as: clearly shown in Figures 1" and 2: The

turntable may be consta-ntlylrotated any.

suitable mechanism in'the direction -iIi'di-' cated by the ;arrow,".b.ut in the preseIItFini able thrust bearings up0n a bracket or housing 6 which may be secured to the ceil- Zing- 0f a building or to any other suitable support. Theshatt/l has fixed thereon a bevel pinion 7 meshing with aj similar 1 pinion V -8 on -the shaft otan electricmotor 9which fmay be mounted upon any'suitable fixed support such as the bracket 6. The conrveyor B is arranged .with relation'to'the turntablejA so that the-articles are discharged from the conveyor in the direction 7 ofrotationof the turntable. Ihe turntable is arranged above thewrapping table E such a distance as to enable wrapping operators standing on the platformF to'conveniently, remove the articles from thefiange 2 ofthe' turntable. 'lhearticlesare deposited from 4 the conveyor B upon the turntable Alandby 3 action of gravity downwardlyover the in-.

.The wrappingtable'Emay be of any suitable, construction, but preferably has a clined portion 1-onto the annular shelf 2.

. flat top 10 which corresponds in shape with the turntable 2, andis larger in diameter, 2

'andfvertical sides 11. "The. platform F is positioned a distance below the top of the table so that the'fwrapping operators may "stand upon the platform and conveniently wrap an article uponithe top 10,;it being "understood that a plurality of operators may be positioned about the table. The. ar- -ticlesarefconstantly moved by the turntable A past all of theoperators at the wrapping "table-E, andreach operator may remove, an @article-tofbe' vwrapped from the turntable V and'place" it upon the wrapping table where the article may be Wrapped. A downward ly inclined' annularslide 12 is arranged beftween the inner edge of the top "10 of the tableand the'central table 'or counter H, the

counter H being disposed below the level o f'thetop 1070f the 'wrapping' table. After then apply; labels to the; packages or other-' Z Wise operate thereon, 1 The central-table H and a portion of the inclined-surface 12- are cut away as at 13'abovethe conveyor K so that packages mayi be deposited upon the r 1; g j conveyor by dropping them through the'cutautomatically'carry the packages away from awayjportion 13, and the conveyor willthen the central wrapping station; 7 T L In some cases,jaiflabelling clerkmay not I required as hereinbefore described and eit, maybe desirable to depositthe wrapped packages directlyfrom the table upon a conveyoruwhichw'ill'carry the packages away from thetable'. -In -Figures 5 and'6 ofthe drawings the apparatus is shown as modi- -fied accordingly. The table is omitted 'and the conveyor vM similar to conveyor K, L is located directly beneath the opening G.

The inclined slide 15 similar to the slide 12 extends inwardlyand downwardly from the inner edge of the table: E above the conveyor M. With this construction, whenan article has been wrapped on table E, the

package is pushed by the Wrapping. clerk to V i the slide 15 and the package then falls by action of gravity. directly upon the, conveyor M.

l/Vhile I have shown and described the e i paratus as'particularly designed for wrapping articles, it will be understoo'd that the,

invention is susceptible of use for other purposes, themain li'eatures of the invention from a plurality of sources andh'andled at one location by a plurality of operators, the

invention also enabling locating of operbeing; the provision, of. means whereby a large number or articles maybe receivedators in most effective relations to each other as to permit efiicient hand'ling of the articles in a minimum amount of "space and with 7 an expenditureof a minimum amount of time.

I amaware of such devices as shown in 7 Patents Nos. 1,444,359, 1,204,428 and l,046,-1

"853 dated February 6, 1928, November 14,1 7

1916, and, December 10,1912, respectively,

and accordingly do not desire to be under-- stood'as attempting to claim such construe t-ions. 'However, while'I have'f'shown the invention as embodied in the certain "details of construction, itwill be understood that Withoutdepartingfroin'the spirit vor scope of the invention. w b Y. b V

Having'thus described the invention, what '4 I claim is:

an annular table around the outside o r-which- 1 00 7 these; details may be modified or changed operators'maybe located and having a space for operators at its center, arotatabletable" arranged above safi'd annular table and con- CGIitI'lC- therew th and having a diameter greater than sai'dspace andsrnaller than said i annularta ble, and means for depositing ar-rtable andoperated'upon bythe operators passed to the opera'torsin said space.

2. article handling station comprising 7 two annular, concentric tables 01 supports disposed at difierentjlev'els and arranged to "ticles upon said rotatablejtable, wherebyfan tic'lesmay' be-removed from said rotatable i at the outside, of said annulartable and;

accommodate operators inside and outside [them respectively, :wh'ereby articles may be 7 operated upon onone'of said tables anddeposited byf'action of gravity upon the other and there again operated upon, a rotatable table arranged above the planes of both said annular tables "and concentric therewith and V having'a. greater diameter than the inner table and a smaller diameter 'than the outer .1. e 1. Anartlcle handllngistatlon comprising I said rotatable table 3. An article handling station comprising an annular table having a space for operators at its center, a second annular table surrounding the first-mentioned table and/at a 7 tables to receive I articles from the first connecting said two tables so that articles different level, an annular inclined Surface may be pushed from one table and deposited by action'of gravity upon the other,-a rota table table arranged above the planes of both said annulartables and concentric therewith, and means for, automatically depositing articles upon said rotatable table.

4. An article handlingstation comprising an annular table having a space for operatore at its center, a second annular table surrounding the first-mentioned table and at a higher level, an annular inclined surface con necting said two tables so that articles may be pushed from one table and deposited by action of gravity upon the other, a rotatable table arranged above the planes of both said tables concentric therewith and having a greater diameter than the inn-er table and a smaller diameter than the outer table, and means for depositing articles upon said rotatable table.

5. An article handling station comprising an annular table having a space for operators at its center, a second annular table surrounding the first-mentioned table and at a different level, an annular inclined surface connecting said two tables so that ar- I 'ticles may be pushed from one table and de-' an annular table having a'space for operators at its center, a second annular table,

surrounding thefirst-mentionedtable and at a higherlevel, an annular inclined surface connecting saidtwo tables sotliat articles may be pushed from one table and deposited by action of'gravity upon the other, and a conveyor mechanism arranged below said mentioned table. v 7. An article handling station comprising an annular table having a space for operators at its center, a second annular table sur rounding the first-mentioned table and at a higher level, an annular inclined surface connecting said two tables so that articles may be pushed fromone table and deposited I by action of gravity upon-the other, a con veyor mechanism arranged below said annular tables to receive articles from the firstmentioned table, a rotatable table arranged above and concentric with said annular tables, and means for depositing articles upon said rotatable table. I

8. An article handling station comprising an annular table having. a space for operamay be pushed from one table and depositedtors at its center, a second annular table sur} rounding the first-mentioned table and at a' different level, an annular inclined surface 70 by action of gravity upon thev other, the f lower table having an opening, a conveyor mechanism arranged below said tables'to receive articles through said opening, a rotatable table arranged above and concentric with said annular tables and means for de positing articles upon said rotatable table.

9. An article handling station comprisingan annular table having a space for opera-v tors at its center, asecond annular table-surrounding the first-mentioned table and" at a 7 different level, and a conveyor beneath said tables and leading into said space.

, WILLIAM R. anner I 

